David Cross - It's Not Funny (CD)

All Music Guide

David Cross' first album Shut Up You Fucking Baby was a sprawling doubledisc set, which was a risk. Not only are doubledisc debuts a rarity, but comedy albums are notoriously inconsistent, so Cross was putting himself out on the line, but he succeeded grandly, delivering an epic masterpiece that fully captured the range and scope of his humor and stayed funny on repeated listens. Perhaps it was inevitable that it's successor would suffer in comparison, and It's Not Funny, released 18 months later in the spring of 2004, does. Part of the problem is that he's covering many of the same topics as he did on Shut Up; even though 9/11 and George W. Bush loom as large on the American psyche in 2004 as they did in 2002 it's only been 18 months, after all his jokes on these topics isn't markedly different than it was on the previous record, nor are they better, and even if you agree with his politics, there's simply too much of an emphasis on this, particularly since he's reworking the same te...rritory, not developing it. This gives the suspicion that It's Not Funny was rushed to release a little credibility. The album is culled from a series of performances at the Improv in Washington, DC between January 15 and 18 2004, which, given the May 5 release, didn't give Cross and his production team much time to edit and complete the album, and it does indeed have a bit of a tossedoff feel, as if Cross was still working on new material and that it was rushed to market. Another part of the problem is that these shows were at a comedy club, not a rock venue, where Cross prefers to perform, since they have a looser, wilder feel. Certainly, It's Not Funny feels more like a traditional comedy record than Shut Up, since it feels more like a collection of jokes, and it also suffers from inconsistent material. But since David Cross is one of the sharpest, smartest and flatout funniest comedians of his time, the album is still very much worthwhile. It may be a collection of moments, but when the moments click, they kill, whether it's a bit about electric scissors or a story about eating at an expensive restaurant where they serve edible gold or a segment on Bush's religion. These may not be as memorable as the best moments on Shut Up nothing like the immortal story about getting drunk with Harlow but that's an unfair yardstick, since his peers couldn't live up to that album, either. Instead of being a classic, It's Not Funny is a solid comedy recording capturing a good, average performance by a brilliant comedian. It may not be timeless, which its predecessor certainly was, but it is sure worth a listen. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less